Kerik indicted on obstruction, tax charges

November 10, 2007|By WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM and MARIA NEWMAN The New York Times

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — A federal grand jury on Friday indicted Bernard Kerik, the former New York police commissioner appointed by Rudy Giuliani while he was mayor, on charges that include tax fraud, obstruction of justice and lying to the White House.

In announcing the indictment, Michael J. Garcia, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said it was a "sad day when this office returns an indictment against a former law enforcement officer, particularly one who served in positions as high as those held by Bernard Kerik.

"But we will not hesitate to pursue any public official who violates his oath and betrays the public trust as Mr. Kerik is alleged to have done," Garcia said. "Nor can we tolerate lies to those who are given the critical tasks of vetting individuals for important public posts."

Kerik pleaded not guilty a short time later in U.S. District Court. Magistrate George Yanthis said he would release Kerik on $500,000 bail. Kerik turned himself in to an FBI office earlier in the day, where he was fingerprinted and processed and then taken by U.S. marshals to the Federal Courthouse.

The charges against him together carry a maximum penalty of 142 years in prison and $4.7 million in fines. According to sentencing guidelines, he will most likely face lesser penalties.

Three years ago, Kerik was at the pinnacle of his career, having risen from a beat cop and driver to Giuliani during his mayoral campaign, to the top candidate to head the Homeland Security Department, with the backing of Giuliani, his friend and mentor.

The indictment is already looming over Giuliani's campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, as he promotes himself as a tough law-and-order candidate. On Thursday, Giuliani addressed the matter, saying he had made "a mistake in not checking him out more carefully."

The 14-count indictment said that in 1999, when Kerik was head of the city's Department of Correction, he accepted renovations to his Bronx apartment that had been paid for by Interstate Industrial Corp., which was not named in the indictment, but referred to only as "XYZ." The company, which was suspected of having ties to organized crime, was seeking a city license to operate a transfer station when it paid for the work.

It also said he hid income from that renovation on his tax returns, as well as about $255,000 in rent payments that they say were paid on his behalf to use a luxury Upper East Side apartment from a Manhattan developer with whom he had agreed to conduct business. The indictment also said he lied about these matters while he was being considered for the top homeland security post.